Poland's classical music and jazz scenes may be enormously influential, but the country's pop acts have traditionally made little impression internationally. With isolated exceptions such as Blog 27 – a pair of 13-year-old rappers whose 2005 album LOL is fondly remembered in Japan to this day – few Polish stars have significantly troubled the foreign charts.

The lack of overseas success shouldn't be mistaken for a sign of limited horizons or shortage of quality. Poland's domestic pop scene spans everything from dancehall to slick retro soul and can boast a handful of the most engaging artists the region has to offer.

With English lyrics and expensive videos, the performer most likely to find an audience outside Poland may be Dorota "Doda" Rabczewska. Famous since 16 as singer with metal act Virgin, her recent solo work has seen her repositioned as a central European answer to Lady Gaga. Although the peroxide hair, challenging fashion sense and ongoing fight against criminal charges of blasphemy suggest she has the fundamentals ticked off, the music still needs work.

At home, her popularity has been eclipsed by Czech Republic-born Ewa Farna whose Ewakuacja (see clip above) has a claim to being the biggest single of 2011. Her muscular power ballads share more than a trace of DNA with Evanescence but they're belted out with stirring vigour.

The most interesting stars, however, are those whose influences are much harder to piece together. What marks Poland out from many of its neighbours is the presence of an unconventional streak running through the heart of the mainstream. The UK's "wonky pop" bandwagon may be creaking under the weight of Eliza Doolittle's grating whimsy and the foghorn bombast of Florence Welch but there's still a place at the top of Poland's charts for exciting, off-kilter music aimed at a mass audience.

The movement's poster girl is Monika Brodka, one of a growing number of artists across Europe making a mockery of the idea that no good can come of Pop Idol and its cousins. Her fearsome natural talent has always been apparent but didn't find its full expression until third album, Granda. Drawing on electro, rock and roots music, but remaining resolutely pop in its approach and execution, the record has a vitality and adventurousness that puts most of Poland's alt-rock acts to shame.

Lead single W Pięciu Smakach, a song about memory, sense of place and Vietnamese noodle soup, has an enthralling hum and clatter but it is her voice, arching in the chorus like Kate Bush, which marks it out as truly exceptional.

Set to replicate Brodka's combination of critical acclaim and popular success is Iza Lach, dubbed "Poland's Lily Allen" but exploring territory closer to Goldfrapp or the slow-burning electro-pop of compatriot Kasia Stankiewicz. Her woozy, introspective new album Krzyk is one of the most beguiling records of the year so far.

It's difficult to imagine either singer being embraced so warmly without the pioneering groundwork done by Katarzyna Nosowska, Poland's queen of the commercial avant garde. An unpredictable combination of theatrical pop and forward-thinking electronica, her most recent album 8 spent the bulk of October at No 1. The single Nomada, like Thom Yorke's Eraser expanded from two dimensions to three, is extraordinary.

With the growth of a new Polish diaspora, the country's music is easier to access than ever. Mail-order services catering to ex-pats deliver CDs across the world and major new releases, such as Granda and Krzyk, are increasingly available on Amazon and iTunes in the UK. Polish pop may have to wait for its major international breakthrough but there's no need for us to miss out now.